Connor McGrath is the associate manager for grain merchandising and derivatives trading at IFFCO Group in the United Arab Emirates. He recently participated in the Grain Procurement Management for Importers short course at the Northern Crops Institute (NCI). USW spoke with him about his goals for attending the course, what parts of the course were the most valuable and what lessons he took back to his company.

What was your primary goal of attending the NCI grain procurement course?

I originally came out for the course to learn more about the U.S. supply chain and the grain flow of U.S. hard red spring (HRS) wheat. Since coming out here, I’ve learned so much more about how to hedge our positions, how to manage our risk really well and about other products that we could integrate, like bringing vessels over with combination cargoes.

What parts of the course were the most valuable?

Some of the most interesting parts were meeting with the economics professors and going through risk management and different methods we could use depending on what type of product we were buying. The conversations with him about more macro-influencing factors were really beneficial.

How did the follow-up activities in Portland complement the classroom learning?

Coming out to Portland connected how the grain system works internally in the inland elevators to how it’s exported from the major grain terminals here. Learning that full supply chain, including that final leg, has been really helpful because it will drive those procurement decisions. It gives us more assistance about when is best to book, what specific factors to look for within the U.S. and more.

What was the value of meeting with other grain buyers from around the world?

Meeting with other grain buyers is one of my highlights. We sat down for dinner one night and discussed the problems each of us, individually, was facing within our own organizations, and then we were all chiming in with ideas about how we could resolve things. A lot of those ideas were driven from things we learned in the course.

What did you learn that you’ll take back to your company?

The top messages are about meeting with exporters, learning exactly how we’re going to implement new strategies to compete in global markets. We’re ready to start building and working on positions, determining whether or not we use certain types of hedges or combination vessels. I’ve now really got the ammunition to aid those conversations and develop that strategy. I’m going back 10 times stronger now with how we can manage things from the U.S. specifically and how we can look at things in the wider business.

Read the full story on the NCI Grain Procurement Short Course and explore other Q&As from this activity here.